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New Perk!
Get a custom portrait of yourself (or a friend) as a PMAS astronaut on Mars - only $10!
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We are an international team of passionate students and young professionals in space-related fields. We come from different backgrounds, cultures, and nations.
Mars is at the top of humanity's list of destinations to explore. We want to take part in the wonderful journey to Mars! We believe Earth can be a proving ground for future Mars missions, and that is why we are organizing PMAS 2017. By researching issues relevant to deep-space travel - including the challenges of time-delayed communication, the psychological effects of isolation, and the logistics of living and working on Mars - we will contribute to the long-term goal of sending human beings to Mars. Even if we won't be able to get to go to Mars in our lifetimes, we will help pave the way for future generations of space explorers!
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Have you ever dreamt of being an astronaut - or even being the first human to step onto the surface of another planet? Becoming an astronaut is hard, but getting involved in human space exploration is easy - you can start by supporting this mission!
By supporting PMAS, you are supporting humanity's long-term goal of exploring and settling on the Moon and Mars.
Space Exploration allows us to explore something bigger than ourselves. It's an extension to human curiosity; our last frontier. When we first went to space, we did that to test the limits of the human spirit. It's the ultimate challenge that all humans are collaborating, not competing, to overcome. The huge technological advancement in space led to a paradigm shift... Humans are not going to space just to explore anymore, they are going to settle on other planets. That's the goal we all yearn to achieve.
The first step to do this is to train and test long-term mission operations and scientific exploration under realistic conditions within an analogue mission on Earth! And that's what PMAS is all about.
This mission will be a serious scientific enterprise whose results will feed directly into the planning and design of future missions to Mars. Who doesn’t want to support that?
Plus, we are offering tons of great perks if you donate $5 or more!
What makes PMAS 2017 different:
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The Modular Analogue Research Station (M.A.R.S.), which will house PMAS Analogue astronauts is built by Spacegarden Company, a prestigious research organisation in Poland.
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The Poland Mars Analogue Simulation (PMAS) is a two weeks isolation mission, whereof the first 3 days will be a lunar simulation and the remaining 11 days will be a Martian one. Main difference therein is the time delay in the communications of around 15 minutes.
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The PMAS team is an international, multicultural and interdisciplinary team of students and young professionals.
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Mission Support Centre will be located at the offices of ABM Space, a distinguished space company, in Torun, which - as the birthplace of the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus - has a long and proud tradition in astronomy.
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PMAS research will address some of the crucial aspects of deep-space expeditions.
- The Mission is organized by the Space Exploration Project Group (SEPG), a sub-group of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) in support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications.
- PMAS will conduct a realistic simulation with all aspects of a real Moon/Mars mission, including complete isolation and time-delayed communications.
- PMAS will involve and engage the public in space exploration through space outreach activities across the world. Outreach activities include educating younger generations about Space using various media, organizing workshops/events, hosting student competitions, and filming a documentary.
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Your contributions will help us to:
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Increase interest in space exploration among a broad range of people across the world.
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Research strategies to send people back to the Moon, and put people on the red planet and allow them to work and live safely, efficiently, and sustainably.
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Share our results and discoveries with the scientific community and the public.
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Support international, multicultural, and interdisciplinary collaboration in space exploration.
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Engage younger generations with space exploration and related disciplines.
- Showcase ESA’s plans to establish a Moon base.
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Explain why Mars is the most suitable destination to search for life in the Solar System to a broad range of audiences around the world.
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PMAS 2017, organized by the Space Exploration Project Group of the Space Generation Advisory Council, will be a realistic human space exploration simulation mission. During the 2-week mission, our crew of 6 analogue astronauts will conduct scientific research and record their experiences while living in the M.A.R.S. Laboratory in southern Poland. They will be fully isolated from the outside world, apart from communications with the Mission Support Team, located in the offices of ABM Space in Torun, Poland. All communications between the Mission Support Center and astronauts will be via time-delayed channels to simulate the long distance between the Earth and Mars. The experience & knowledge gained from this mission will help lay the groundwork for the first human expedition to Mars.
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(Visualization of the landing site and the M.A.R.S. Laboratory in which PMAS 2017 astronauts will stay during the mission. Credit: M.A.R.S. Project/Space Is More/Jan Popowski)
M.A.R.S. is a modular combined laboratory and living space for up to 6 astronauts. It will contain a biological laboratory, where plant growth on Lunar and Martian soil simulants under the adequate lighting can be studied. An algae reactor will recycle organic material into fresh bio mass, which can be used as food supplement. A chemical laboratory will allow to analyse rock and soil samples taking on the astronauts' EVAs (Extra Vehicular Activity). A workshop will allow us to test, maintain, and adapt hardware equipment, which can be rovers or other robotic support units. In the future, it is foreseen to make this laboratory hermetical isolated and entirely self-sufficient as a real station on Moon or Mars would have to be.
Video footage from the mission will be used to produce a comprehensive and engaging documentary about human space exploration.
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(Analog astronauts doing a night EVA during the first mission at the M.A.R.S. Laboratory. Credit: Mariusz Słonina)
In addition, in accordance with ESA's plans to go to the Moon first and then to Mars, we will have a 3-day Lunar Simulation prior to PMAS 2017 in partnership with ESA. During the Lunar Simulation, communication will be real-time or near real-time, the analogue astronaut schedule will be in "Lunar Mode," and EVAs will mostly take place at night.
Our PMAS 2017 team consists of some of the brightest young minds in space-related disciplines from around the world. Our Astronaut Crew and our Flight Support Team will attend multiple workshops in partnership with ESA at ESTEC prior to the mission. This will ensure that we thoroughly understand all relevant aspects of space exploration mission planning and operations.
There have been many analog missions conducted so far, but PMAS 2017 will be remarkable in many ways: in its internationalism, its strong emphasis on outreach, and in the wide range of scientific research that it will include. Help us make this mission a reality!
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PMAS research areas include the evaluation of the performance of astronauts conducting geologic fieldwork under harsh conditions limited by bulky space suits, applications of technologies to support human activities on a planetary surface, controlled investigations and experiments in psychology and human factors, studies of plant growth on Martian soil simulants, and astronomical studies.
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The PMAS 2017 team is a passionate and incredibly international group of volunteers. We are students and young professionals from 6 continents and more than 30 countries, united by the dream of space exploration.
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Check out this map of all the countries we come from (in orange)!